Ammunition link



Nov. 21, 1961 E. A. KAMP ET AL 3,009,394

AMMUNITION LINK Filed July 12, 1960 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 BEND LINEINVENTORS. EWALD A. KAMP &

United States atent 3,009,394 AMMUNITION LINK Ewald A. Karnp, Chicago,and William L. Kuivinen, Mount Prospect, 111., assignors to the UnitedStates of America as represented by the Secretary of the Air Force FiledJuly 12, 1960, Ser. No. 42,452 5 Claims. (Cl. 8935) This inventionrelates to ammunition links which connect together to form an ammunitionbelt. More particularly,' the invention is concerned with providing anammunition link which, when formed into a belt, is sufficiently flexibleto permit stacking, fanning, twisting, etc. of the belted rounds.

The installation of automatic cannon which are capable of extremely highspeed operation on military aircraft has made it increasingly necessaryto provide an ammunition belt which can be flexed in virtually alldirections and yet is simple and reliable in operation. The design ofmodern military aircraft generally require that the ammunition magazinesbe located in comparatively accessible places which are usually remotefrom the guns or cannon. This makes it necessary to feed the ammunitionalong indirect paths and around other parts and equipment. Also, theammunition belt must necessarily be sufiiciently flexible to permitsubstantially universal movement of the cannon during the aiming andfiring of the weapon. Thus, it can be seen that the belt must be capableof flexing, twisting and curving in both roll and fan in order toprevent jamming and gun failure as well as damage to the cannon orammunition.

Accordingly, it is a primary object of the present invention to providean improved ammunition link which, when loaded and connected to otheridentical links, forms an ammunition belt of the self-disintegratingtype.

Another object of the invention is to provide an ammunition link whichis simple and inexpensive to manufacture in production quantities usingstandard methods and machinery.

A further object of the invention is to provide an ammunition link whichis unusually light and flexible, making it particularly adaptable foruse on military aircraft.

A still further object of the invention is to provide an ammunition linkwhich can be assembled to form an ammunition belt that is reliable and,because of its simple structure, is not subject to failures caused bycareless assembly of the links.

Another object of the invention is to provide a link which can bequickly and easily attached to a round of ammunition and is easilylocated at the center of gravity of the round without requiring specialtools or skill for assembly.

Other important features of the ammunition link described herein includeits ready adaptability for use with telescoped rounds of ammunition.Also, because the link is so simple, and easily applied to theammunition round, it is an improvement over presently known ammunitionlinks which require various pins, springs, or other small pants forassembling. The link is simple in structure and can be easily andeconomically mass produced and fabricated.

These and other objects, features and advantages will become moreapparent after considering the following detailed description of apreferred embodiment of the invention as shown in the accompanyingdrawings wherein like reference characters refer to like partsthroughout the several views: 7

FIGURE 1 is a cross-sectional view of a conventional telescoped round ofammunition having an ammunition link attached according to theinvention;

FIGURE 2 is a plan view of adjacent ammunition links;

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FIGURE 3 is an end view of the links shown in FIG- URE 2;

FIGURE 4 is a view in isometric enlarged to show the details of a singlelink of the belt;

FIGURE 5 is a plan view of a blank forming one section of the link as itappears before it is bent; and

FIGURE 6 shows the links attached to several adjacent rounds ofammunition, thereby forming an ammunition belt according to theinvention.

Referring now to FIGURE 1, there is shown a telescoped round ofammunition designated by the reference numeral 13. For illustrationpurposes, the type of ammunition pictured is split breech, 30 mm.,surrounded by a steel case 15. A shallow groove 17 is formed in thesteel case 15 near the longitudinal center of gravity of the round andserves 'as a retaining slot for a portion of the cartridge belt link.

That portion of the link which is in engagement with groove 17 is aninner annular ring 19 (FIGURE 2) which is stamped or coined with aslight wave 20 in its surface. The annular ring 19 consists of astamping having an offset portion 21 extending outwardly to form anear-like projection on the edge of the ring. The inner edge of theprojection 21 is farther from the center of the ring than theoutsidediameter of the ring itself, thereby allowing clearance between aportion of the ring 19.

and the groove 17.

An outer mating member 23 (FIGURE 5) having a bridge portion 25 which isdimensioned to engage and fit into the ear-like projection 21 of theinner annular ring 19. The outer mating member 23 shown in FIGURE 5comprises a pair of annular rings connected by a bridging strap 25. Atassembly, the mating member 23 is passed through the inside diameter ofthe annular ring 19 so that the bridging strap 25 is in the projection21 and then the member 23 is bent along the bend line to form part ofthe structure shown in FIGURE 4. The inner annular ring 19 combined withthe outer mating member 23, as shown, forms a single link. When thislink is combined with other identical links and ammunition rounds, anammunition belt is formed.

The links are assembled into belt form by inserting an inner annularring 19 of one link between the annular rings of the mating member 23 ofan adjacent link. The round of ammunition 13 is then inserted throughthe three annul-ar rings until the inner ring 19 falls into theretaining slot 17. The two adjacent links are thereby locked togetherwith the ammunition round functioning as a hinge pin or pintle. Byrepeating these assembly steps, a belt of any desired length can be madeup (FIGURE 6).

The coined portion 20 of the inner annular ring 19 allows the ring toexpand, permitting it to be slipped over the ammunition round. When thering 19 reaches the slot 17, it again contracts and falls in place inthe slot. Since the annular rings of the mating member 23 are positionedon either side of the inner ring 19, relative lateral movement of thelink and round is thereby prevented.

Sufiicient flexibility is given to the linked rounds to permit stackingand required twisting because the annular rings which comprise themating member 23 are free to move in rotation. .Also, clearance isallowed in the projection 21 between the bridge portion 25 of the matingmember 23 and the body of the round 13 so that the linked rounds can fanfreely. De-linking of the ammunition belt is accomplished in the reversemanner by withdrawing the round from the rings, thereby releasing theadjacent links.

Although the invention has been described with particular reference toone embodiment thereof, it will be understood to those skilled in theart that various changes and modifications can be made therein withoutdeparting from the invention. For example, the wavy or corrugatedportions 20 of annular ring 19 which are used to vary the insidediameter of the ring may be of other forms or shapes and might eveninclude the formation of the annular ring similar to that of a C-ring,thereby relying on the elasticity of the metal used to formthe ring inthe plane of the ring. Also, the belt has been shown in use with 30 mm.telescoped rounds but with certain apparent modifications it can beadapted for use in feeding rockets to a rocket launcher. We intend,therefore, to be limited only by the full scope and spirit of the appended claims.

Having thus described our invention, what we claim as new and desire tosecure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. An ammunition link for receiving ammunition and cooperating withother similar links to form an ammunition belt, each of said linkscomprising a first annular ring member having corrugated portions forengagement with a slot in said ammunition, said first annular ringmember being provided with an olfset rim portion, a second membercomprised of a pair of annular rings connected at their rims by a bridgeportion, said bridge portion engaging said offset rim portion allowingrelative angular motion between said first and second members, theannular rings of said second member being dimensioned to allow rotationof said secondmember with respect to the received ammunition.

2. An ammunition link as defined in claim 1 wherein the inner diameterof said first annular ring is smaller than the outside diameter of anammunition round when said first annular ring is unstressed and largerthan the outside diameter of said round when a stress is applied to saidcorrugations which tends to cause the said ring to approach a flattenedcondition.

3. In combination, a round of ammunition having an annular groove aroundits outer periphery at its center of gravity, a cartridge belt link,said link comprising a first annular member having corrugated portions,said first annular member being provided with a projecting ear portion,a second member having a pair of annular rings connected by a bridgeportion, said bridge portion,

interconnected to said first annular member at said projecting earportion, said first annular member being dimensioned to engage saidannular groove in said ammunition round, thereby retaining both of saidmembers in position.

4. The combination described in claim 3 wherein said first annularmember is formed of a springymetallic material to allow temporaryenlargement of its diameter without permanent deformation of the member.

5. The combination described in claim 3 wherein the annular rings ofsaid second member are dimensioned so that their inner diameter exceedsthe outer diameter of the ammunition round to allow for relativerotational movement between the round and said second member.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS2,708,390 Darsie May 17, 1955 2,851,927 Smith Sept. 16, 1958' FOREIGNPATENTS 496,908 France Aug. 29, 1919 775,551 France Oct. 15, 1934

